


A Ribbon At A Time

by Dresupi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Autumn, F/M, M/M, Multi, One Shot, Polyamory Negotiations, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 19:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21150845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: Darcy's pretty sure no one's ever been this embarrassed before.





	A Ribbon At A Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [betheflame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/gifts).

> Fall Prompts 2019
> 
> Prompt Fill: My scarf’s stuck in the door of my apartment building and I can’t reach the keypad to unlock the door to the lobby, can you help me out, neighbors-I’ve-never-spoken-to-before?
> 
> Title from 'I'll tell you how the sun rose' by Emily Dickenson

Darcy recognized them from her previous excursions to the lobby. For mail and the laundry room.

They’d called out perfunctory hellos to her on a couple of those very excursions. And once, in the laundry room, while she waited for a load of her delicates to finish, she got an introduction.

James was the one with brown hair. Hair that was too long and often fell in his eyes. He had a great smile. Steve was the blond. He’d been clean-shaven when she first moved in but now had a beard coming in. It looked soft, not that she’d ever gotten close enough to tell or anything. Steve had a great smile too, but what she really remembered about him was his laugh.

They both had this mischievous glint in their eyes that made her blush. No matter how much she told herself that they were _together_ and to stop being gross. Maybe she recognized them too well for how few times they’d actually spoken, but in her current predicament, she couldn’t be moved to care.

“Hey… James! Steve!” she called, waving her hand in a way that she hoped read as nonchalant, in spite of the pitfall she’d stumbled upon. This particular pitfall was long and scarf-shaped. And stuck in the locked lobby door.

She would have unwound the stupid thing from her neck, but it got caught in two places and either way she twisted, it ended up tightening around her neck, and strangled to death by her own handmade scarf wasn’t the way Darcy Lewis wanted to go.

And being stuck like she was didn’t afford her room to reach around to the keypad to input her password and unlock the door. Any other day, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, because one of her neighbors would have come out or needed to enter the lobby door at some point. Except for some reason, either everyone was home and happy to stay that way, or they were all out and had no intention to come back anytime soon.

She was _this_ close to calling the super and disturbing ‘Days of our Lives’ when she spotted James and Steve walking towards the building, shopping bags in hand.

Which led her to right now.

James’s had a baguette in it. Not that she was snooping or anything, but she could just see it from here.

She waved again as they put a little spring in their step, Steve reaching her first, his blue eyes taking in the scene with a small amount of mirth. “Darcy? You okay?”

“Oh, peachy, you know,” she said flippantly. “A little stuck, but besides that…”

“Stuck? How long you been standing there, doll?” James asked, taking Steve’s bag when the latter thrust it into his chest and practically jumped up the stairs to enter his passcode into the keypad. He pulled the door open and Darcy stepped gratefully away, unwinding her scarf as she went, stuffing it into her purse.

“Not long,” she lied, reaching up to rub at her neck while her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I was just running out to get groceries, and kind of… got stuck.” She laughed nervously. “You know the rest… now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go sit down like yesterday…”

An alarmed look replacing the amused one on his face, James reached out and offered his arm around the groceries, helping her down to the bench just beyond their stoop. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, just got caught standing there for too long, hunched over… you know… just need a minute… and then I can head off to the store,” she replied in what she hoped was a bright tone and not manic in the slightest.

“Maybe you outta put that off till tomorrow?” Steve suggested, coming down the steps to join them.

“You offering to cook me dinner?” Darcy joked. “Because that’s why I need to go to the store. I’ve kind of been putting it off for too long.”

“Absolutely,” James’s face lit up. “We could cook for you tonight if you want.”

“Oh… oh god, no… I wasn’t… I wasn’t really asking, you don’t have to–”

“It’s no trouble, promise!” James replied. “Honestly, doll, it’s–”

“Buck…” Steve said softly. “She doesn’t want to. She was just being glib.” He shot her a smile. “Bet she doesn’t even like seafood.” His tone was gentle at first, but it morphed into a teasing challenge at the end. Or was she hearing things?

She backtracked immediately. “Oh, I mean. I love seafood. And I’m sure the way you two prepare it is amazing, but I don’t want to be any trouble. I wasn’t fishing for an invitation like some kind of creepy third wheel or anything…”

“Well, maybe we weren’t in the market for a third wheel,” James countered. “Maybe we’re just looking for a third.”

She was certain she was hearing things now. Her eyebrows shot up. “A third what?” she asked, trying to stall because _holy cripes_. Was he asking what she thought he was asking? She glanced over at Steve for confirmation. And then back at James.

“Well, not to get specific, we’re looking for a third who maybe wears really long scarves. Someone who gets them stuck in doors would be fine, probably…” James mused. “If you’re interested, I mean. I know you don’t like seafood.”

“I like it plenty!” she exclaimed, meeting his grin with one of her own. “I like it plenty.”

“Yeah? Prove it. Let us cook for you,” he said. “If you’re interested, I mean. I don’t want you to think this is like… I dunno… I want it to be your choice…”

Steve put his hand on James’s shoulder. That seemed to calm him down a little. He mumbled a quick sorry and Darcy slumped back on the bench and looked between them. “Are you asking me on a date?”

Steve laughed. Did she mention how great of a laugh it was? Because it totally was.

“We were trying to,” he said. “Are you interested?”

She bit down on her lip for a minute, trying to hold back a smile and failing. “Yeah,” she nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me some sugar if you liked it!


End file.
